Quiet Afternoons
by Sketcher1994
Summary: Zoro sat with his arms crossed behind his head with his eye closed, dozing. They'd been out at sea for over two weeks now with no action and no land in sight. But sadly for Zoro, the archaeologist and the chef just won't let him sleep in peace; they're making him think instead.


**AN: I do not own One Piece.**

**This is my first One Piece Fanfic, hope you enjoy it, and I'm sorry but there are no lemons or bad language in sight...other than potentially bad grammar. O;)**

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Zoro sat with his arms crossed behind his head with his eye closed, dozing. They'd been out at sea for over two weeks now with no action and no land in sight. Luffy and Usoppe sat fishing to replenish some of the food supplies while Sanji prepared their dinner for that night. Nami was sitting drawing up her latest map – it had been a while since she'd had a chance to work towards her own goal amongst the chaos that was their crew. Chopper and Franky had disappeared just after lunch, one to his workshop and the other to his little room designed especially for him making his medicines.

Zoro could feel someone approach him and knew it was their residence archaeologist. Knowing she'd tell him off for sleeping on the deck again where he could catch a cold – as if he'd catch a cold – he opened his eye. Much to his surprise she sat down next to him, not that she didn't often do that, but she usually had a book in her hand. He was used to her just appearing beside him when he was dozing or training, sadly that usually attracted an over enthusiastic Love-Cook which meant an end to his peace. He watched Robin as she stared out at the expanse of water in front of them.

"Zoro, why did you join the crew?" It was a simple question, one that he didn't mind answering – what worried him was where this was going.

"Luffy broke out me out of a small marine base after finding out why I was there and that the idiot that had put me there was gonna go back on his word. I hadn't exactly planned to join a pirate crew but he was being perfectly serious when he told me he was going to become Pirate King. I had my own dream to follow and it seemed like a good idea to join him if I was going to become a pirate under someone, much the same as the others." He was sure she already knew all this but told her anyway, closing his eye again.

"So you were the first to join the crew. Was it chance that Luffy met you first? You are the First Mate after all, or did you just become stronger to accept that role?" He opened his eye again, searching for an answer as to why she was asking.

"My goal is to become the world's greatest swordsman; you have to be strong. It just so happens that I'm the second strongest on this ship, makes me First Mate and means I have to protect the crew." He answered, waiting for her next question that she probably also already knew the answer to.

"Is that the only reason you tried to protect me?" Zoro sat up straight at her question. He hadn't expected that, where had that question come from?

"Huh? What do you mean?" He protected everyone; it was part of what he had to do for the crew.

"You stopped me from hitting the ground on Skypiea when Enel attacked me. You tried to save me from Admiral Aokiji when he tried to attack me with an ice sword. Then on Fishman Island when Hyouzou tried to catch me by surprise, you jumped in the way to defend me." He looked straight at her, wondering about why she asking about 'saving' her.

"...Enel insulted you and attacked you with lightning because his prediction didn't turn out right. I didn't do much, I just stopped you from feeling the pain of hitting the ground. Of course I tried to attack him after that – he'd just attacked a member of the crew. Aokiji managed to freeze you anyway, but there's a key point to both Aokiji's and Hyouzou's attacks – they both used swords." He sat back again, feeling like he'd successfully justified himself. He heard Robin giggle next to him and waited for the next question, wondering why he was dreading it.

"I'll just go get my book. Are you planning to train again today, Zoro?" He grunted at her, she definitely already knew the answer to that one.

Zoro shut his eye again, planning to return to dozing. He'd train later, it had only been an hour since lunch and he liked his afternoon naps. He felt someone sit next to him and once again opened his eye expecting to see Robin with her book. It wasn't. It was the Love-Cook. He sighed in frustration and waited for the serious Sanji to make his point before he returned to being an idiot, rushing off to fawn over Nami and Robin, giving them all sorts of handmade sweet treats.

"You know, Marimo, you should tell her about your battle against Kaku." Zoro glared at him, daring him to continue this dangerous path.

"She knows about my battle against Kaku, Love-Cook. It was his key that opened her cuffs. She asked about the battle, she always wants to know how our battles go. She's an archaeologist, she's probably just curious because once Luffy becomes Pirate King, it'll be a part of the history of Monkey D. Luffy and the Strawhat Pirates." He continued to glare at him, hoping he'd get up and walk away. They normally left these types of conversations for when Zoro was on night watch and Sanji had stayed up late preparing the breakfast for the next morning, making sure to check the fridge lock.

"Not what I meant, Marimo." Zoro watched as he got up to leave, having seen Nami appear after finishing her latest map.

He closed his eye, hoping to finally get some peace. He felt Robin sit down next to him on a cushion with her book. He sat thinking about his battle against Kaku, remembering the rage he had felt when they'd been travelling to Enies Lobby that had lead to him training so hard. The training and frustration that had lead to him becoming strong enough to challenge Kaku. He'd been so frustrated when Kaku hadn't just handed over the key nicely, knowing he had to get the key fast to save Robin's life. If he'd taken too long it would have been as if he'd lost. He'd almost started to enjoy the fight, even if the Giraffer had talked too much. Then he'd said too much. Zoro hadn't cared when Kaku had threatened him, telling him he should die in the name of justice; it was when he'd added 'like that woman'. He'd been furious when Kaku had told him Robin had to die in the name of 'justice'.

There was no point in listening to Love-Cook; he was First Mate of the Strawhat Pirates. Not only did 'romantic' relationships on ships not work well, but he had a duty to protect the crew. He had to protect the _whole_ crew; he couldn't risk showing favouritism towards one member. If he told Robin the truth, even if she didn't accept him, he'd still feel he had to protect her over the others even if she was capable of taking care of herself. If another member of the crew got hurt because of his 'favouritism', he'd never forgive himself. He would have failed both the crew and Luffy. It was better to just enjoy their quiet afternoons, he could live with that.

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**So, I hope you enjoyed it! :D I'm currently working on a One Piece story, and this actually works pretty well as a sort of 'prequel' – unintentionally obviously. Anyway, hope you liked it! :D**


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